The Lord Demon King is Unfathomable!

This is also what she admired about him the most.

From no one else had she ever felt this sense of security.

Seeing Qianqian's surprised expression, Luo Yan chuckled lightly and, with a hint of pride, gazed at the scattered lights in the distance before speaking slowly.

"There are so many things I could never have anticipated. For instance... I never thought that the refugees might not entirely reject the Undead. I used to believe they'd launch suicidal attacks just to earn themselves a ticket to paradise. And for another example, I've realized that surface-dwelling humans and demons might indeed coexist harmoniously, as long as they see that both are bound by the same rules of order. There's a lot I've only come to understand after interacting with them."

Qianqian froze for two seconds, then burst into a melodious, bell-like laughter and teased with a playful tone.

"Unbelievable! Who would've thought the omnipotent Lord Demon King could be caught off-guard? Hehe."

Luo Yan joked back.

"Surprising, isn't it?"

With a composed and elegant smile lingering on her crimson lips, Qianqian responded in a graceful tone.

"Not entirely. I just didn't expect to witness this rarely-seen side of you. I mean no offense—it's just... a bit surprising."

"Do you like it?"

At first, she didn't catch his words. After regaining her senses, Qianqian froze, her face instantly flushing crimson.

"L-Like?! What are you saying? Me? H-How is that possible! P-Please, compose yourself..."

Her usual graceful and proper conversational style completely devolved into incoherent babble.

In her haste to clarify, she accidentally stumbled forward, as if the chair behind her had been pulled away, nearly tumbling out of midair.

Flapping her wings to steady herself, she bit her rosy lips in frustration and shot a furious, embarrassed glare at the instigator of her predicament.

Yet, the culprit merely let out another cheerful laugh and, mimicking her teasing tone, said.

"I meant, do you enjoy this kind of surprise, not an evaluation of me personally."

Realizing her misunderstanding, Qianqian's face became so red it seemed blood might drip from it.

She wished more than anything to bite this troublemaking scoundrel, but managed to suppress the impulse, turning her face away in a huff instead.

"...It's... fine, I suppose. But next time, could you phrase it in a way that's less likely to confuse people? Or at least give me a heads-up."

Seeing Qianqian revealing her genuine emotions, Luo Yan couldn't help but let a faint smile tug at the corners of his mouth.

No doubt about it—he had done it on purpose.

If he didn't remove the mask she wore to hide herself, he would never see the truest feelings of this Little Demon Queen, who wrapped herself in nobles' etiquette so tightly.

Not to mention, once he had her figured out, he had essentially figured out all the Little Demons of the Land of Nightmare.

After all, those born in the same nest shared one heart and mind.

"If I made you uncomfortable, I apologize. But please believe me—I wasn't trying to tease you, just hoping to understand your honest thoughts."

Seeing that Qianqian seemed to have accepted his apology, Luo Yan paused briefly to choose his words carefully before continuing.

"And, I wanted to share with you the joy of this unexpected discovery."

Having calmed down, Qianqian blinked in mild surprise.

"...Share it with me?"

"Precisely," Luo Yan nodded with a warm smile, turning his gaze once more toward the direction of Beifeng City and speaking in a gentle tone. "Haven't you noticed? The Little Demons of Beifeng City and the surface-dwelling humans are actually getting along quite well. This too was a surprise to me."

"That... I hadn't really observed that closely," Qianqian said hesitantly, widening her eyes slightly as she unconsciously followed Luo Yan's gaze, her tone uncertain.

By now, the people gathered at the entrance of the abandoned inn had dispersed. Across Beifeng City, only the Undead remained busy, and almost no sign of surface-dwelling humans could be seen.

But thinking carefully, she vaguely recalled something—

Perhaps earlier, right before nightfall, there had been a moment when a group of surface human children seemed to be chasing around several Little Demons, playing hide-and-seek in the snowy clearing.

To be honest, it was the first time she had ever seen such a sight.

As Qianqian fell into contemplation, Luo Yan continued.

"It's fine if you didn't notice. There's plenty of time ahead of us. You'll have ample opportunities to observe. Pay attention when the chance arises."

"I will. It's just... I don't understand what the point of doing all this is," Qianqian looked at Luo Yan with puzzlement and asked, "We're demons. No matter how we get along, in the end, we feed on the negative emotions of surface humans..."

"That's just a saying, not the truth."

Luo Yan shook his head and continued.

"Even in Demon City, no demon can survive solely by feeding on negative emotions. Mortals eat mortal food. And as for the so-called negative emotions—what we refer to as the Power of Faith—that's actually food for the Divine."

"What's the difference?" Qianqian asked in confusion, looking at him. "Serving the Lord Demon God is our innate duty. Don't you agree?"

After pondering for a moment, Luo Yan replied.

"This question can be divided into two parts. As for whether serving the Lord Demon God is your innate duty—that's something you must decide for yourself. Regarding the second part of the question, about how to serve the Lord Demon God, there has always been another way."

A little over a millennium ago, when the Netherworld King Hagen fell, the Netherworld God's followers were forced underground, dividing the surface and the underground worlds into two distinct domains.

Early on, the Holy Sis Church, in order to consolidate its own rule, painted the subterranean world inhabited by the Netherworld God's followers as Hell, branding the beings living there as demons and leveraging fear to harvest the prayers of mortals.

Meanwhile, Hell itself, unable to win against the narrative, opted to embrace its role as the villain, turning fear into a tool to siphon the Power of Faith away from the Holy Sis Church.

Having lived in Hell for eighteen years, Luo Yan could objectively say that although it was a harsh jungle society, it was far from inherently evil.

Spreading malice and fear was merely a method to obtain the Power of Faith.

Of course, there were other ways apart from spreading malice and fear—like acolytes directly preaching the faith of the Demon God through conventional means.

Just as the acolyte he had stationed in Beifeng City was doing now, that too was a way of serving the Lord Demon God.

Granted, he admitted he had added quite a bit of his own ideas, practically altering the original teachings into a "new doctrine," and almost portraying himself as the Demon God's spokesperson, an incarnation in the Mortal World.

Qianqian looked at him, half-understanding, seemingly pondering his words earnestly.

After all, she was the queen among Little Demons.

Her thought process wasn't particularly lengthy, but unlike Yousi and Mi Xi, she wasn't completely scatterbrained either and could piece together the underlying logic.

"I think I get your meaning. You want us to try changing our old way of life, to explore the possibility of living alongside surface humans... Is that right?"

Luo Yan shook his head.

"You don't need to change your way of life. Just continue being who you are. I've simply provided an additional possibility on top of the existing one. For demons and the Undead who wish to try another lifestyle, they can choose to live here outside the Maze."

Qianqian asked doubtfully.

"How's that different from Mist Town? Isn't that also a place where humans and demons coexist? It doesn't seem much different to me."

Luo Yan smiled and said.

"Of course, there's a difference. That place is on our turf—it's about others adapting to our ways of life, not the other way around. Furthermore, most of the people there are adventurers and mercenaries. As for Beifeng City, this is outside the Maze and, strictly speaking, not our home ground. Most of the people living here are free citizens or tenant farmers of the Ryan Kingdom. It's us who are effectively the 'adventurers' here."

At this point, Luo Yan paused for a moment and openly shared another thought on his mind with her.

"I want to use this opportunity to see if, while helping surface humans find a place for themselves in Hell, we might also be able to find a place for 'us' on the surface."